Dapl

North Dakota is keeping a wary eye on the continuing legal challenges facing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which carries 40% of the daily oil supplies from the prolific Bakken Shale.

Arsenal Resources holding company Arsenal Energy Holdings LLC (AEH) has emerged from bankruptcy in a pre-packaged plan of reorganization. It implemented a debt-for-equity exchange to wipe out $861 million of outstanding subordinated bonds. Arsenal noted when AEH filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that its exploration and production operations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia would not be affected. No other creditors were impacted by the proceedings.

The Iowa Supreme Court is considering oral arguments from landowners and environmental activists attempting to unravel approval by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) in 2016 for the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is in service and crosses the state. The Grow America’s Infrastructure Now coalition said the IUB conducted 18 public informational meetings and 12 days of public hearings on the four-state, multi-billion dollar oil pipeline owned and operated by Energy Transfer Partners LP. Supporters expect the state high court to reaffirm lower court rulings that rejected challenges to the pipeline.

In a court-ordered review, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that the Dakota Access Pipeline poses “no significant potential impact” to nearby hunting and fishing resources, and its crossing of the Missouri River does not create a “disproportionately high and adverse” risk to nearby Native American tribes, some of whom oppose the $3.8 billion, 1,200-mile crude oil pipeline. A federal judge ordered the review in June 2017, but allowed the pipeline to continue operations. Sponsor Energy Transfer Partners LP reported this June that the pipe, which has transported more than 100 million bbl, is moving 500,000 b/d, or close to half of the Bakken Shale’s daily production.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), majority owner-operator of the Bakken Pipeline System that runs from North Dakota to the Gulf Coast, is gauging interest in more capacity involving subsidiaries Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Co. (ETCO).

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) may continue operating during a federal review of the project’s environmental impact, a judge overseeing the case ruled on Wednesday.

Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) backer Energy Transfer Partners LP is suing Greenpeace International and numerous other environmental groups that organized the much-publicized protests against the project, claiming the groups violated federal racketeering laws and committed terrorist acts.

No longer playing catch up, the oil and natural gas infrastructure in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota has hit its stride, and the outlook appears sunny into early 2020, state oil and gas officials said.

The Army Corps of Engineers told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that it will need the rest of the year to complete reviews of the “discreet” issues noted in a judge’s ruling over pending legal challenges to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).